Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

I am a one man show, I do everything from framing to cabinets to rock work. I am having an inguinal hernia repaired and wondering if anyone out there has been through this and how soon I can get back to heavy lifting.

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Re:
Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

an old timer i know had the surgery a couple years ago and was told 8-10 weeks i believe, he couldnt wait that long and only made it worse, he had to get teh surgery again back in december they told him the same time frame but he couldnt do any lifting over 40 lbs from now on

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Re:
Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

I'm too lazy to google it, but just to make sure we're talking about the same condition, the one I had was a split in the abdominal muscle where the intestine popped out. (Looked like an egg sticking out of my side)

If you're a one man show, you're out of business for 3 months unless you hire somebody to do all the work.

Hang up the hammer, go get a job in a call center where the heaviest thing you have to lift is your coffee cup.

Take the 3 months, relax, and go back to work at a hundred percent.

The good news is that the doctor told me that if you let it heal properly, it will never happen again in that section of muscle.

That was 25 years ago, and I haven't had any problems with it since.

I know this isn't what you want to hear, especially this time of year, but long term, it's the right way to go.

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Re:
Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

if that is the case I don't see much point to the surgery. My son weighs almost 40 lbs. I couldn't even get my compressor out of the truck. My circular saw weighs 15 lbs! I am only 35, hopefully I will be able to recover better than that. I can not take two months off for healing either. Maybe I can make wooden toys or something. I will have time to learn sketch up.

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Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

I wasn't going to have the surgery either, until the doctor explained this phrase to me:

"Strangulated hernia"

If this happens to you, at that point it is emergency surgery, whether you have time for it or not.

From Wikipedia:

When a hernia is not repaired, it may become incarcerated or strangulated. When strangulation occurs, there is a danger that part of the intestine be caught in the hernia cutting off blood supply to the tissue. Also, when a bowel obstruction occurs, it leads to severe pain, vomiting, nausea and inability to have a bowel movement or pass gas. Men are more prone to suffer inguinal hernias than women, and they risk a damage to their testicles if a hernia becomes strangulated.[8] Also, the pressure caused on the hernia's surrounding tissues may extend into the scrotum causing pain and swelling.

Here's the money quote:

"They risk damage to their testicles"

That was pretty much all the doctor had to explain to me. I had the surgery the following week!

Nobody ever has time for things like this, but in an emergency, you somehow always find the time.

I would rather do it on my schedule.

Last edited by NHCremodeling; 03-26-2011 at 08:55 AM.
Reason: spelling

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Re:
Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

I've had the surgery twice (both sides) Not going to lie...it is not a lot of fun and the recovery is slow. You can not rush it or it will tear the new muscle fiber.

Use this as an opportunity to begin learning how to earn money without using the tools. I've been there...as the lone bread winner and all our trust in my health. It's all or nothing and too much risk with a family.

At the very least hire a helper for the next 8 weeks to haul your things around. Your abdominals will thank you.

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Re:
Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

Had a double Inguinal laproscopic repair done on Dec 16. Was plowing and light shoveling a week after due to the Stormy winter in Connecticut, not a good idea. Had no choice. Don't let anyone tell you that you'll be good to go in a couple of weeks. It takes a good 10-12 weeks before you should really test yourself. Its over 12 weeks now and iam working out and doing everything I need to do but you will feel it for a while. No real super heavy lifting for a while. You will forget the pain of the surgery after a few weeks.
Good luck

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Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

I have had it done 8 TIMES. I have another one now and just deal with the pain . The first one I had was when i was 18 with a hydrocyel. They also found testicle cancer at that time. I had had both LAPY done and full blown cut in the gut. You have to rest after it for at least 6 weeks. If ya ocerdue it it will blow backapart.

Good luck. the key is taking it slow

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Re:
Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

bud,
its one of those things that take time. but you need to give it the time it needs, if that makes sense?
I have never had a hernia operation but Ive had a kidney surgery, opened me up for kidney stones, and I had my appendix removed. As we get older it takes longer.

When I was in the hospital for the appendix some young kid came in the hospital at midnight, got his appendix removed, and left that morning getting dress and practically running out of the hospital. I was there for a couple of days..

Re:
Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

I was told 6 weeks w/o heaving lifting and that seemed about right. My son had had them both done, the last one 12 years ago as outpatient surgery. They use the stainless steel mesh with him and his restrictions were fewer. IIRC, inguinal hernia repairs have a slightly shorter recovery time that some others because of the limited opening at the inguinal canal.

It's worth following the doc's orders and may be worth it to get a helper for a while. Good luck.

Re:
Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Friend

I am a one man show, I do everything from framing to cabinets to rock work. I am having an inguinal hernia repaired and wondering if anyone out there has been through this and how soon I can get back to heavy lifting.

I had the exact same procedure done last year. They used the mesh and adhesive Steri-Strips to patch me up. I think the first three days were the the worst, but thanks to the Vicoden, it was generally only painful when getting in and out of bed or on and off the throne.
You really should take the full 6-weeks before lifting anything over 40 pounds, like they recommend, even though you will probably start to feel great after a week or two.

Re:
Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

I had the surgery done in 2009, just before I was starting a house. One month before. It was overseas. I had my wife lifting all my luggage, etc., then after one month I came home and carried my backpack on my back, etc., then went to work building again. But I didn't try to do anything strenuous.

You should wait 4 weeks, then you can do some things. Just take it easy and don't do stupid things. You can carry a few 2x4's around, just don't try to move a refrigerator.

I can still feel it when I sneeze or cough. I had to be careful about jumping down off anything for a long time, even off a bucket.

I think the most strenuous thing for that injury is to try to pull forming stakes out of the ground.

Your body will be numb in that area for some time after the surgery. It is very painful after the surgery. I was fortunate to stay overnight in a hospital and be on vacation afterwards. You'll need someone to help you get in and out of bed and on and off the toilet.

It will be painful to use the toilet and you will be hesitant to engage in extra-curricular activities.

But everything will be fine in the end. You can lift some stuff after 3 weeks. Just be smart about it.

Re:
Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

Thanks for all the advice every one. My operation is April 6 and I have a straw bale home addition next in line. Sounds like I will have to put it off till June or so. Right now is the golden time for building in Texas, I would much rather take off the hot months, but I guess it will be good to get it over with. I sure like working alone, but it seems I will have no choice but to hire a helper, I guess that is the circle of life. I was a helper once too.

Re:
Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

I'm 46 and have had 5, yes 5 hernias repaired,
2 seperate surgeries 1 when i was in my late teens and 1 in my early twenties. The were done the old way where they sritch the tear closed.This type definately takes longer to heal. I would say 8 to 12 weeks to fully recover.
The last surgery was a triple hernia. This time they used the mesh that goes under the stomach muscle. this surgery was definately much shorter recovery time. You will feel prety good the day after the surgery but the next 2 day you will hurt. in about 4-5 days i was at work doing small things cleaning, measuring, basically getting around. I was back to about 90% in 4 weeks. oh yea, din't flinch during the shave!!!

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Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

I also had the same surgery. I took it easy, and followed the dr.'s instructions. It's been about 2 years since the surgery and I can't tell I ever had it. Let it heel up good and you'll be good to go.

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Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

I had mine repaired, the doctor told me I would be down for 6-10 weeks. As a one man show I put it off for 6mo. When I did finaly listen to my doctor and had it repaired he found I had early stages of colon cancer. That put my down for 6-8 months. Don't put it off it CAN be a life saving event.

Re:
Hernia Surgery Recovery Time?

It all depends on your age.

My 6 year old boy had a hernia surgery that was caught early because of early screening here. They hauled him off from for the procedure in a little red wagon and he got to choose the cartoon character for the gown. He wanted to do it again! In two weeks, he was back at school (first grade) and participated in almost everything including the "show and tell" session at school when he dropped everything to show his incision.

I fell off a roof and crushed a tibia at the age of 62 and was in 3 hospitals (including the Sister Kennedy Institute for therapy) over 2 months and had absolutely only mental pain and it took me almost 2 months when I could go up a 4" step using crutches. In another month, I got rid of the walker and crutches and graduated to a cane. My wife said it was great to get back here because she described it as the best place to get sick and treated IF you have insurance. - My son (35 at the time) asked me why it took so long to get close to normal.

Now he is 41 with 3 boys in baseball, soccer, football and basketball (thankfully not hockey), and coaches and has a hard time keeping up even though he frequently rides a bike to woork and works out.

It is all relative to age and the resting and recovery times are always longer if you are old and difficult when to try to think nothing happened. You really find out when you get stressed or in unusual situations that wear upon your brain more than the body.

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